The brother of the man accused of carrying out the 1994 fatal bombing at the National Crime Authority in Adelaide has been jailed for at least three years over a cannabis crop in the Riverland.
Francesco Perre, 58, pleaded guilty to cultivating and trafficking a commercial quantity of a controlled drug over the discovery of a cannabis crop at Chaffey near Renmark in June 2017.
He also admitted to possessing two firearms without a licence after police found a semi-automatic rifle and a pump-action shotgun concealed by metal sheeting in the wall of the shed where the cannabis was being grown.
The District Court heard if the total amount of cannabis seized had been yielded it would have been valued at about $75,000.
Non-parole period of three years
Judge Rauf Soulio sentenced Perre to four years and two months in jail with a non-parole period of three years.
The court heard Perre's counsel had tried to argue he resorted to cultivating cannabis because of financial strain caused by the drought, but that the prosecution had later produced evidence that there had not been a drought at the end of 2016.
Judge Soulio said the "true reason" for Perre's criminal activity was because he wanted to renovate his house.
"That is relevant because it seems that you were engaged in a commercial cultivation and sale of cannabis not out of excessive hardship but out of a desire to renovate your house," he said.
"Your motivation accordingly could not be said to arise out of need."
The court heard Perre had two previous convictions for drug-related offending.
Once the sentence was handed down Perre, who had been on bail, was taken into custody.
"Having regards to seriousness of offending and your prior convictions for similar offending there can be no question of suspension or an order that the sentence be served under home detention conditions," Judge Soulio said.
Perre's brother, Domenic Perre, 61, remains in custody after being charged earlier this year with murder and attempted murder over the bombing of the NCA office on Waymouth Street in March 1994, which killed a police officer and injured a lawyer.
